It Came From the Dumpster
by New Warrior of Fire
Summary: When Bridge turns to a vile dog for solace from Sky's rejection, all hell breaks loose at S.P.D
1. It Came From the Dumpster

**Chapter 1: It Came From The Dumpster.**

"I don't remember the last time I was this tired."

Skyler Tate muttered the weary phrase as he dragged himself to his room after an exhausting morning. He had been stuck with the 'special' D-squad cadets, 'special' meaning intellectually challenged. Cruger had made Sky teach the cadets how to shoot, which meant a field trip to the shooting range. It soon became clear to Sky, after about an hour, that the cadets couldn't shoot a watermelon at point blank. That is, with the exception of one cadet who shot him, on purpose, Sky was sure, _in the crotch._ Those cadets ran him so ragged, he was beginning to think Cruger had given him that assignment as a punishment. "I guess it doesn't matter now." Sky said to himself. For it was his break, and he didn't have anything he had to do until after lunch. Sky opened his bedroom door, only to be hit with a pair of dirty underwear. And if that didn't make it bad enough, they were Bridge's underwear. Sky pulled the underwear off his head only to see Bridge, standing on his bed and launching laundry all over their room with a makeshift slingshot. He stopped when he saw Sky.

"Hi, Sky." Bridge said happily. "What brings you here?"

Sky glared at him. "I live here." Sky stopped to take a good look at what Bridge had done to their room. "Bridge." Sky said in a particularly perturbed tone. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Bridge grinned sheepishly. "I was playing laundry fight."

"I see." Sky said. "And who, pray tell, were you fighting?"

"My imaginary cousin, Steve. He's a really good shot." Bridge said. He threw his slingshot to Sky, who just barely caught it. "You want to play him?"

"No, Bridge." Sky fumed. "I want you to stop making a mess of this bedroom!" He stopped and looked at the slingshot more closely. "Bridge, are these _pantyhose_ that you used to make this contraption?"

Bridge grinned. "Yep."

"Let me rephrase." Sky gave Bridge the evil eye. "Are those MY PANTYHOSE?!"

"Yeah. You have more, don't you? So who cares?"

Sky really lost it. "I CARE, Bridge!" He screamed. "You are not to use _my_ special support pantyhose for anything, especially your WEIRDO, OBSCURE HOBBIES! Now get the HELL OUT OF MY ROOM!!"

Bridge gave him a hurt look. "But we share the room." He pointed out.

"No, we don't share the room! _I_ share the room, with the biggest freaking idiot in S.P.D.!" Sky yelled.

Bridge pouted. "Fine, if you don't want me around then I'll just leave!" And with that, he slumped out of their room, then out the door of the S.P.D. base, where he walked aimlessly through the streets of New Tech City. After he'd wumped around the city for a while, he plopped onto a sidewalk next to the city dump. He started muttering to himself.

"Man. Now Sky hates me. If that's what my own best friend thinks of me, then everyone else must think I'm the slime of the earth." Bridge got up and walked over to the nearest dumpster. "My life sucks!" And with that, Bridge kicked the dumpster as hard as he could. Then, from inside the dumpster, he heard the most horrible, gruesome, disgusting, blood curdling sound.

"URROUMPGH!"

Bridge shot up three feet in the air. "Wh-what the hell? Who's there?" He asked. He heard the hideous sound again.

"URROUMPGH!"

A shudder went through Bridge. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought it almost sounded like a very mangled bark. Almost like . . . a dog. Bridge was just about to run home and hide under his bed, when suddenly, something in the dumpster moved. Then, out came the most hideous, repulsive beast. It might have been some kind of dog, a mutant alien dog. It was covered in ugly, gray fuzz, like a layer of mold. The sickening creature climbed out of the dumpster very slowly, and when it did Bridge saw that it was covered in rancid slime. The beast was almost as tall as Bridge, and probably weighed as much as all of B-squad put together. And when it reached Bridge, it made the most terrifying sound.

"URROUMPGH!"

Any normal person would have run away, wetting and screaming. But Bridge Carson was far from a normal person. He looked at the freakish dog-type creature and smiled.

"Aww, how cute! A puppy!" Bridge said, in a blatant distortion of reality. He reached out and petted the thing.

"Hey, puppy, you want to come home with me? You can be my new best friend!" Bridge said happily. The dog-type thing wagged what might have been its tail and barked happily.

"URROUMPGH! URROUMPGH!"

"All right, it's settled. You're coming with me, buddy. Oh, wait. I have to think of a name for you, let's see . . . "

"URROUMPGH!" The dog said. But this time it wasn't just barking. It was vomiting everything it had presumably eaten in the past three weeks.

Bridge stared at the huge puddle of bio-waste. "Hmm, that's a lot of vomit." He said thoughtfully. Bridge scratched his head. "I've got it!" He exclaimed. "I'll call you, 'Rancid Vomit From a Dumpster.' I can call you Dumpster for short. Yeah, that's it. Come here, Dumpster."

"URROUMPGH!" Was the monster's happy reply. It slugged after Bridge, toward a new home.


	2. Man's best friend, Sky's worst enemy

**Chapter 2: Man's Best Friend, Sky's Worst Enemy.**

Meanwhile, at S.P.D., Sky was still in his room relaxing. He was contentedly perusing the pages of the S.P.D. handbook. Suddenly (and unfortunately) Bridge burst in.

"Hey, Sky, I made a new best friend! Want to meet him?" Bridge asked in the most disturbingly cheerful voice.

Sky sighed. "No, Bridge I don't. But if you absolutely don't have anything better to do than torture me with your findings on the street, than by all means, show me.

"Great!" Bridge said. "Just wait until you see him, he's the cutest." Bridge poked his head out the door. "Come here, Dumpster." He called. Dumpster panted and slowly dragged himself into Bridge and Sky's room. It was a wonder he made it through the doorway. He looked plaintively at Sky.

"URROUMPGH!"

"Holy shit what IS THAT THING?!" Sky screamed. He stared in repulsed horror as he bore witness to the world's most hideous, ugly, fat, disgusting, sloppy dog.

Bridge beamed. "He's my new puppy! What do you think?"

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Sky answered.

"Now, Sky." Bridge started. But Sky was beyond listening to Bridge ramble. He ran over to the side table dresser, grabbed the lamp off its stand, then threw it at Dumpster. He missed, but Dumpster was upset about it, all the same.

"URROUMPGH! URROUMPGH!" Dumpster protested.

"Dumpster! Settle down, boy." Bridge soothed. Then he turned to Sky and gave him a hurt look. "Sky, what was THAT for? That was so mean."

Sky looked to Bridge, appalled. "Wait a minute. You actually _named _that thing?"

"Of course I did. Dumpster is my new best friend. Unlike you, the very man who said that I was an 'idiot.'" Bridge said, using air quotation marks.

"Well can you see why?" Sky asked. "You go and you drag home garbage like that. It's a disgrace to S.P.D., to humanity, that thing probably isn't even a dog. I think it's just a slag mass."

Bridge rolled his eyes. "That's not true, Sky. He is a dog, and a beautiful one at that."

"Ugh." Sky said. "No. You cannot bring that _thing_ into _my_ room."

"It's not just your bedroom, Sky. It's _our_ bedroom. That we _share_."

Sky glared at him. "No, Bridge, as I stated previously, it is not our room. It is my room, which I happen to share with an idiot."

Bridge grinned. "And now you share it with an idiot and a dog!" He exclaimed happily.

"Bridge." Sky said through his gritted teeth. "If you do not get that horrible thing out of my room, I will kick you so hard in the pooper . . . "

But Bridge cut him off again. "Sky, you can't kick me out. I have to care for this wonderful creature. Besides, he's already eaten half of your bed. Now we're probably going to have to share a room and a bed. It's gonna be cozy!"

"What!!" Sky screamed. He looked at his bed, and sure enough, it was half-eaten and there was Dumpster, chewing on the last bite he'd taken. Sky was about to continue chewing out Bridge, but his scream had disturbed Dumpster, who responded by making a most horrible sound.

"URROUMPGH!"

"THAT'S IT! I can't take any more. Fine, Bridge, you win. It's obvious that I can't have anything anymore. You stole my room, my sanity, my good pantyhose, you made it smell bad in here, and now your DUMPSTER RAISED HIDEOUS BEAST has eaten MY BED! I am out of here. I never want to see you or that awful THING ever, ever again!" And with that, Sky stormed out of their room, slammed the door, and then, by chance, ran into Jack.

"Hey, what's up, Sky? You seem kinda tweaked." Jack said.

"Jack, whatever you do, DON'T GO IN MY ROOM FOR ANY REASON!" Sky yelled. Then he stormed off, leaving a confused Jack standing outside his bedroom door.

"Hmm. I wonder what that was about." Jack mused aloud. "I'd better see what's up."

Jack walked to the doorway of Sky and Bridge's room. He knocked on the door.

"Come in." Bridge called.

Jack opened the door. Dumpster was sitting in the corner of the room, and Bridge was sitting on the floor a few feet away, reading a book. He looked up at Jack.

"Hey, Jack. What do you need?" Bridge asked.

"I just saw Sky, and he looked pretty upset, he told me not to . . . " Jack trailed off when he saw the bizarre bio-mass Bridge had for a pet. Jack did not, however, understand that the freakish wad was a dog (of sorts), inasmuch as the creature's head had recessed into the rolls of fat that might have been its neck. "Hey, Bridge, where did you get that weird beanbag chair?"

Bridge laughed. "That's not a beanbag chair, Jack."

Jack looked confused. "What?" He asked.

Dumpster decided to take this moment to poke his head out of his fat mass and utter a terrible sound.

"URROUMPGH!"

"AAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" Jack screamed in horror. He didn't know what disturbed him more: The freakish, oozy, slimefilth dog, or the sound it made. And at this point, he didn't care. Poor Jack ran screaming out of Bridge and Sky's room. He made it about twenty feet before he ran into Z and Syd, knocking them over.

"Ouch!" Z and Syd cried in unison. Syd put her hands on her hips and asked, in a very put-off tone, "What was THAT for?"

"Sorry." Jack said plainly. He was still freaked out about the whole Dumpster thing, and he was shaking visibly.

"Hey, Jack, are you okay?" Z asked.

"Yeah." Syd agreed. "What happened?"

Jack looked them dead in the eye. "Whatever you do, don't go into Bridge's room. It's . . . it's horrible in there!" And with that, Jack was gone.

Z and Syd exchanged puzzled looks. "So . . . You wanna go to Bridge's room?" Z asked.

Syd grinned. "Sure. Let's go."

So Z and Syd made their way to Bridge's room. They found him leaning up against Dumpster, whose head was sucked into his fat, sloppy neck once more. Bridge was contentedly reading a comic book. He looked up at them.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" Bridge asked.

Z and Syd looked around his room. "We came to see if everything was all right." Z said.

"Yeah. We saw Jack run out of here screaming, and we figured something must be up, because it usually takes something really horrible to make the Red Ranger scream and run."

"Everything's fine." Bridge insisted. "Jack just got a little startled by my new puppy. Want to meet him? He's really cute."

"Cute, eh?" Syd asked. "Well, okay. Where is he?"

"He's right here." Bridge said. He pointed to Dumpster, who was curled up behind Bridge's head.

Z looked confused. "Where is he? I don't see him."

"Maybe he's stuck in that hideous beanbag chair." Syd suggested.

Bridge laughed like a beached whale that had washed up on a beach covered in rusty nails. "No, Syd. This isn't a beanbag chair. This is my sweet, adorable puppy. Z, Syd, meet Dumpster."

"Dumpster? That's what you named it?" Syd asked, her tone perfectly conveying her disgust.

But before Bridge could answer, Dumpster poked his head out of his fat mass and made the most horrible sound that had ever been beheld by Z or Syd.

"URROUMPGH!"

"YIIIIKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEE!!" Syd and Z shrieked in horror. Syd ran away as fast as her skinny legs could carry her. Z, however, was considerably less fortunate. She was so repulsed by the mutant that now occupied S.P.D., she threw up all over Bridge's floor. Bridge was delighted.

"All right, thanks, Z. Dumpster, dinner!" Bridge called.

Dumpster's eyes widened, and he looked upon Z's face with lust. He dragged himself over to her as fast as he could (which was not very fast.)

Z watched in continual horror. "Bridge, what the HELL IS HE DOING?!" She shrieked.

Bridge smiled. "Oh, that. See, when you threw up, the sound you made probably sounded like a mating call to him. He wants to take you up on your offer."

"Th-that's . . . THAT'S THE MOST HORRIBLE THING I'VE EVER HEARD!" Z screamed.

Bridge gave her a sympathetic look. "Well, unfortunately, that's not all. He probably wants to go for your shin, then make a pass at your other leg."

"I AM SO OUTTA HERE!" Z screamed. She ran out of there, leaving Dumpster with only Bridge, and her vomit for his lunch.


	3. The Plan

**Chapter 3: The Plan.**

Later, Sky wumped off to the cafeteria to eat lunch. He didn't even know if he could eat at the time, he was so pissed off.

_Stupid Bridge._ Sky thought. _Stupid Bridge and his stupid, dumb-ass, shit-fed dumpster dog._

After a few minutes the other members of B-squad showed up for lunch. First Z, then Jack, and finally Syd. None of them said a word. They were all pissed off, of course, but none of them wanted to shove that off onto anyone else. After a few minutes, however, Jack could take it no more.

"Sky." Jack began. "Could you pass me the salt, inasmuch as I HATE BRIDGE'S DOG!"

Sky grabbed the salt and slammed it down next to Jack. "ME TOO! DUMPSTER SUCKS!"

"YEAH! WE NEED TO TALK SOME SENSE INTO BRIDGE!" Z screamed.

"MAYBE WE CAN CONTINUE THIS DISCUSSION WITHOUT YELLING!" Syd proposed.

"Okay, sounds good." Said Jack.

Sky slammed his fist onto the table. "We HAVE to do something! That freak ate my bed."

"Yeah." Z put in. "And he tried to have a humpfest on my leg."

Syd said, "I liked Z's idea. Why don't we just talk to Bridge? We could do that right now."

Sky rolled his eyes. "I wish. He's out buying cupcakes to share with his beloved sludge wad." He sighed. "Besides, I think he's beyond reason. We need a plan to get rid of Dumpster."

"But how can we get rid of something that big?" Z asked.

Then Jack said, out of the random, "When I want to get rid of something, usually I just eat it."

Sky jumped up. "That's it!" He cried.

"What's it?" Asked Syd.

"We'll just EAT the DOG!" Sky said, as if it were the most brilliant thing ever.

Jack made a yucky face. "Eww. Sky, I don't know about you, but personally I wouldn't eat something that gross."

"Yeah, Sky, that animal is probably diseased." Syd said.

"Oh, we won't really eat the dog. But Bridge won't know that."

Jack stared at him. "Well, I'm lost."

"Yeah, same goes for me." Z said.

"Me too." Said Syd.

Sky gave them a smug grin. "Don't worry. I have a plan. What we'll do is we'll buy some dog meat from that new Korean market. And we have to remember to ask them for the carcasses as well. Then we'll cook the meat, have a big-assed barbecue and tell Bridge that the meat is Dumpster. When he hears that, he'll freak out and search for Dumpster to see if we're for real. Then we'll leave a note from Dumpster in his room, explaining what happened. At the end of the note, 'Dumpster' will tell Bridge to look out his bedroom window. Outside the window, there is a dumpster. We will put the carcasses in the dumpster, Bridge will see them and think they are the two parts of Dumpster's carcass, and boom! Dumpster is gone from S.P.D. forever!"

Jack took a minute to take that in. "Good idea." He said, nodding his head enthusiastically.

"Wait a minute." Said Syd. "What are we _really _going to do with Dumpster? You forgot to take that into account."

Sky smiled. "Don't worry. _I'll _deal with Dumpster personally."

"All right. I'm in" Said Z.

"Me too." Said Jack.

"Count me in." Syd agreed.

"Excellent." Sky said with a devious grin. "Now, down to business. Z and Jack, you buy the meat and _don't forget to ask for the carcasses._ Syd, I need you to cook the meat and make all the other preparations regarding dinner. Remember, this isn't just for us. This is for the good of humanity as a whole, the values for which we stand as dispensers of justice, so we can once again make clean the halls of S.P.D., and finally and most importantly, so that I have one less jackass roommate to deal with. Now move out."

"Hey, _I'm_ the Red Ranger, _I_ should say when we move out."

"Yeah, nobody cares. Just do it." Sky said. Jack pouted but he and the others still did as Sky had bid. And with that, the plan was in motion.


	4. Dog Food

**Chapter 4: Dog Food**

A few hours later, Bridge came home with a massive armload of cupcakes. He'd just spent his entire month's salary on Hostess' products, and he was exhausted. But it was worth it, he figured. For he loved Dumpster, and he would do anything for love.

"Dumpster, I'm homeeeee!" Bridge sang. He listened in anticipation for the sound of Dumpster's bark of acknowledgment, but he heard nothing. Bridge was dismayed at the silence.

"Du. . . . Dumpster?" Bridge called worriedly. He scratched his head. "Where did that dog get to?" He muttered to himself. He set his cupcakes down and walked toward his bedroom, figuring that would be a good place to start, seeing as that was the last place he'd seen him. But when he reached his bedroom door, he found, instead of Dumpster, his smiling roommate waiting for him in front of the closed doors.

"Hey, Bridge!" Sky gave Bridge a hug. "How have you been, buddy? I haven't seen you for a few hours.

Bridge gave him a confused look. _Wasn't Sky mad at me before I left? _He thought. _Maybe he changed his mind. No, wait, this is Sky we're talking about. Hmm. Oh well. Maybe he knows something about Dumpster. I'd better ask him._

"I'm . . . fine." Bridge responded. "Say, Sky, have you seen Dumpster?"

"Aww, Bridge. You just got home. How about some relaxing before we worry about that kind of stuff?"

"Wh-what? Did you, Skyler Tate, just say the word 'relax'? And in conjunction with the phrase, 'before we worry about stuff'?

Sky shook his head. "Oh, Bridge." He said with a smile. "Come on. We are having this huge barbecue in the mess hall. All of B-squad is sitting together."

Bridge grinned. "Barbecue? What are we waiting for? LET'S GO!"

"Great." Sky said with a devious grin.

The two Rangers made their way to the mess hall, where a barbecue feast and all of B-squad were waiting for them.

"Hey, it's Bridge!" Syd exclaimed.

"What a pleasant surprise!" Z oozed.

"What?" Bridge asked. "Why is it a surprise? I thought everyone was waiting for me."

"Uh, never mind that. Take a seat, Bridge." Sky said.

Jack stood up. "Here. You can have _my_ seat." He said.

"Wow, thanks Jack." Bridge said. He sat down and immediately began stuffing his face. He was so busy gorging himself he didn't notice that none of the other Rangers eating. Bridge quickly finished his first serving, and when he did, he shoved his plate at Sky.

"Could I have some more?!" Bridge asked ecstatically.

"Sure." Sky said. "Here. You can have the rest of mine."

"Thank you!" Bridge exclaimed. "Man, this is awesome! Who made this?"

Sky smiled. "Syd."

"Really?!" Bridge asked in disbelief. "This is the best!" He turned to Syd. "What kind of meat did you use?" Bridge asked just before he went back to stuffing himself.

Syd grinned. "Well, I-" she began.

"Wait, Syd." Said Sky. "_I'll_ tell him."

"Well, if you insist." Syd conceded.

Sky smiled slyly. This was the moment he'd been waiting for. "Oh, it's nothing fancy, really. Just a little dish I like to call. . . Dumpster!"

Bridge grinned. "Hey, what do you know? That's the name of my new d- . . ." Bridge stopped, swallowed the last bite he'd taken, and weakly uttered "Dumpster?"

"That's right." Sky said, and his sly smile broke out into a devious grin. "It's. . . dog meat."

Bridge started hyperventilating. "Wh-wh-. . .no. It can't be. . . I-I. . .I mean. . . Sky, YOU DIDN'T!" Bridge screamed.

"Oh, but I did." Sky said coolly. He broke out into a wicked cackle.

"Wh- NO!" Bridge shrieked hysterically. He ran all over the base searching for Dumpster.

"Dumpster?" Bridge called down the halls. No response.

"Dumpster?" Bridge called into the training room. He heard only the panicked echo of his own screams.

Bridge burst into Commander Cruger's bedroom, where Commander Cruger was playing Othello with a matainence droid naked on the floor. "DUMPSTER?!" Bridge screamed in desperation.

"Cadet Carson, WHAT THE HELL IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Cruger barked.

"Oh, uh. . .sorry sir." Bridge closed the door and ran away as fast as he could.

_Where else can I look?_ He wondered. _I've searched every single centimeter of the base. . . no, wait a minute. _He thought, as something occurred to him. _I've searched every room, except. . . MY BEDROOM!_ Bridge tore down the halls of the S.P.D. base, exploded through the door, and screamed at the top of his lungs, "DUMPSTER?!"

But Dumpster was nowhere to be seen. All Bridge found was a greasy spot in the corner where Dumpster had been. Bridge was about to leave when he noticed something. Next to the greasy stain was a single sheet of white paper lying on the floor. He picked it up and looked it over. He found that it was not just a piece of paper, but rather, a note.

"Dear Bridge." Were the first two words on the page. He read on:

'By the time you are reading this, Sky has probably already cooked me, eaten me and fed some of me to you. While you were out today, he captured me, saying he was going to serve me at his barbecue. I tried to escape, but I was so damn fat that I couldn't get away in time. Can't say I didn't try, though. I hope you remember my name fondly. And don't worry, I'm kosher.'

Love,

Dumpster.

Bridge turned the page over. There was no writing on the back. Bridge swallowed a hard lump in his throat and tears welled up in his eyes. He read the note over and over, and racked his mind to think of what he could have done differently to avoid this outcome. Bridge could think of nothing, and was left with the overwhelming sense that he'd failed Dumpster. He read the note again, but this time when he read it, he noticed that there was one more line of text:

p.s.

Look outside your window.

Bridge rotated his head toward the window and saw that in the dumpster outside his bedroom window, there was an enormous dog carcass. Bridge felt a feeling of faintness in his chest, and his knuckles turned white.

A faint sound escaped Bridge's lips. "N-no. It's not. . . I mean. . . it can't be. . ." Bridge crumpled the note in his hand, threw it to the ground, fell to his knees and screamed so loudly that his cry reverberated throughout New Tech City.

"**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" **


	5. A Second Thought, A Second Chance

**Chapter five: A Second Thought, A Second Chance.**

One week had passed in the S.P.D. base since the dumpster incident. It was morning, and the Rangers were sitting down to breakfast before their morning training. All was seemingly normal, but for the fact that neither Sky nor Bridge were at the table. Bridge hadn't been coming to meals lately, the Rangers knew. Whether he was moping in his bedroom or looking for a new dog they did not know. However, Sky not being present was highly unusual.

"Hey, Jack, do you know where Sky went?" Z asked.

Jack shook his head. "Nope. Haven't seen him today."

Syd shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he's still doing his hair. He does take a long time in the bathroom in the morning."

"Yeah, but usually not this long." Z pointed out.

"She's right." Syd said. "It's not like Sky to be late. I'm kinda worried."

"Me too." Z said.

"Hey, there he is." Jack said. He pointed to Sky, who was now entering the cafeteria. Z and Syd turned to look at Sky, and nearly fell off their chairs in shock. Sky was a total wreck! His shoulders were slumped, his feet were dragging, he had dark circles under his eyes, his uniform was buttoned up wrong, and he had mascara smeared all around his eyes. He dragged himself to the other Ranger's table and threw himself into the nearest chair.

"Sky?" Jack asked cautiously.

"Ugh." Sky grunted in response.

"What happened?" Syd asked in shock. "You look horrible!"

"I didn't sleep at all last night." Sky moaned.

"How come?" Z asked.

Sky's expression darkened. "Bridge kept me up all freaking night with his stupid crying."

"He cried all night?" Syd asked. "Is. . . is he still all torn up about that Dumpster thing?"

"Syd." Jack said. "If you've noticed, he hasn't been hanging out with us anymore. He hasn't been coming to meals and I don't think he's eaten anything the past week, aside from maybe a few pieces of toast. I think . . . " Jack trailed off. He lowered his voice and continued. "I think maybe we should tell him the truth."

"What?!" Sky shouted. "No. No way. Why would we do something like that?"

"Well, why not?" Jack asked.

"Because we worked so hard to get rid of that stupid dog. I'm sick of sharing my bedroom with stupid animals. Including Bridge."

"Sky! How could you say something like that?" Syd asked.

"Jack is right." Z put in. "I say we tell him."

"He needs to know the truth." Jack said. "The team is falling apart, and it's our fault. We have to make this right. So Sky, I want you to talk to him."

"What?!" Sky yelled. "Why ME?! If you want to ruin everything we worked for, fine. Leave me out of it. "

"Sky, Bridge is your friend! Don't you see? Bridge has always been there for you. He's the best friend you've ever had, and if the situation were reversed, I think he would tell you the truth. I don't know how you can call yourself his friend. Here you are, complaining about how you didn't get any sleep last night, when you don't even care that he has been spending entire nights crying because of what you did."

Sky sighed. "You don't understand. None of you guys have to live with him."

"Fine." Jack said. "Since this is an issue that is affecting the whole team, as Red Ranger, I Order you to tell Bridge the truth, and apologize to him."

"I guess I don't have a choice, do I ?"

"No. And you have to do it by the end of the day. Do you understand?"

"But Jack . . ."

"I said DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Jack barked.

Sky grunted. "Yes, sir." He muttered angrily.

"Good. Now if you will all excuse me." Jack got up and carried his tray to the garbage.

"So, Sky." Syd asked. "How did you get mascara all over your face?"

"Was that Bridge?" Z asked.

"No." Sky said. "I was so tired this morning I couldn't see straight to apply my mascara."

"Whoa, whoa. You wear makeup?" Z giggled.

Sky gave her a dark look. "Yeah. So what?"

"Well, first of all, it's not your color." Syd said as she tried to suppress her laughter.

"I like this color. It makes my gaze even more commanding." Sky picked up his tray and left.

Z and Syd looked at each other, then burst out into a huge laughing fit that didn't end until they both hardcore peed their pants.

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Sky spent the rest of the day dreading when he would have to tell Bridge the truth. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Jack kept nagging him about it. When the Rangers were running for morning training, Jack ran alongside Sky just to ask him, "Did you tell him yet?"

Sky scowled at him. "No." He sped up, and pulled ahead of Jack.

When Sky was eating his lunch, Jack came to his table and set his tray next to Sky's. "Hey, Sky, have you told Bridge yet?"

Sky rolled his eyes. "Not yet." He picked up his tray and left.

Later, Sky was in the bathroom, using one of the urinals. Jack came in, and went to the urinal next to his. "Have you told him yet?" Jack asked.

"No! Leave me alone." Sky stuffed himself back into his pants and hurried out of the bathroom.

Finally, evening came. As Sky made his way to the cafeteria for dinner, Jack cornered him once again and asked him the dreaded question.

"Have you told Bridge yet?" Jack asked.

Sky let out a long, deflating sigh. "No, Jack. I haven't told Bridge what I did with his living landfill."

"Tell him. Tell him now, Sky! That's an order!" Barked Jack.

"Fine." Sky muttered.

"What did you say?" Jack asked.

Sky gave him a limp salute. "Yes, sir." He mumbled.

"Good. Now do it." And with that, Jack was off.

Sky turned around, facing the direction of his bedroom, sighed like a punctured weather balloon, then headed off to tell Bridge.

_What am I gonna say?_ He wondered. _Hey, Bridge, Dumpster's not really dead. I sold him, so why don't you buy him back so the two of you can annoy the shit out of me together? _

By then Sky had made it to his bedroom door. _Maybe I really should go kill his dog. Then it will be true and I won't have to tell Bridge. Then again, that would take awhile. Let's just get this over with._

Sky opened the door. "Bridge?" He asked.

Bridge was lying on his bed, staring at a holo-chron of Dumpster. Not just Dumpster, but himself doing things with Dumpster. Sky stopped to watch the holo-chron.

_Dumpster! C'mere Boy!_ Bridge said happily. The nasty slag mass barked happily and slowly made his way over to Bridge.

Sky stared in disbelief. Why was Bridge torturing himself like this? He figured the only way anyone could even put up with Dumpster was if they were completely lonely and desperate. Bridge didn't seem to fit that description. _He has friends, right?_ Sky thought. _At least, he has me . . ._ _doesn't he?_ He thought back to the last few days, the things he'd said to Bridge. That he shared his bedroom with the biggest freaking idiot in S.P.D., and that was the only reason he put up with Bridge. Then Bridge turned to that horrible dog for solace, and Sky took that away from him too.

Sky swallowed painfully. It was just as well that Bridge kept him up all night, because he didn't know how he was going to live with himself after this, let alone get to sleep at night. He hadn't been any kind of a friend to Bridge.

Bridge looked up at him, as if he'd read his thoughts. Sky panicked. Had Bridge read his thoughts? He looked down at Bridge's hands. Both of his gloves were on. Sky wondered why Bridge was looking at him like that if he hadn't read his mind. Oh yeah, he'd just said Bridge's name. He couldn't tell Bridge now. It was too painful.

"Um, Bridge, Jack told me to tell you . . ." He couldn't even say it. "He said . . . to tell you . . . that . . . dinner is ready. Right now."

Bridge nodded weakly, then slid onto the floor. He just laid there, showing no signs of ever getting up, let alone eating.

Sky hurried away as fast as he could. He couldn't stand to be there anymore. After pacing the hall outside his bedroom for about fifteen minutes, Sky decided to just go to bed. There was no way he could face Jack after disobeying a direct order.

Sky hesitantly opened his bedroom door, and was received to find Bridge asleep. He sighed, then quickly undressed and wearily flopped onto his bed.

As he'd predicted, Sky had a lot of trouble falling asleep. He kept thinking about what a total jerk he'd been to Bridge. _Some friend I am_, he thought. After hours of tossing and turning and occasionally masturbating, Sky found sleep.

Some hours later he was awakened by a horrible sound.

"URROUMPGH!"

Sky bolted upright at the utter intestinal disturbance that sound had now caused him. Had he heard right?

"URROUMPGH!"

_No_, Sky thought in panic. _It's that horrible, demon dog of which I thought I had rid this world! But it lives! It lives, only to haunt me! It will be my utter undoing!_

"URROUMPGH!"

This time it sounded like it had come from Bridge's bed. But how could that be? Sky turned to Bridge, and found him sitting on his bed, listening to a recording of him and Dumpster playing together. He kept rewinding it to Dumpster's bark.

"URROUMPGH!" Rewind. "URROUMPGH!" Rewind. "URROUMPGH!" This time Bridge rewound a little further, and the recording was of Bridge's voice. He was saying, "_Dumpster! Come here_!" followed by the beast's terrible cry.

"URROUMPGH!"

At this point, Sky Tate could take it no longer. He flew out of bed, turned on his bedside lamp, ran to Bridge's bedside and threw himself onto the ground. "That's IT!" he screamed. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! I DIDN'T KILL YOUR STUPID DOG, BRIDGE!"

Bridge turned the recording off, and stared at Sky. "What?" he asked. It was the first time he'd heard Bridge speak since Dumpster's 'death'.

Sky started sobbing. "I'm sorry, buddy. I'm sorry I neglected you as a friend and let you sink to such a low point! I sold Dumpster to Piggy, who sold him to a farmer in Texas. Dumpster's happy and leading a good life. We faked the whole thing with Dumpster's death. That meat we fed you was just collie meat from the Korean market. Bridge, if you can find it in your heart to forgive me, I promise to let you make toys out of any undergarment of mine you want."

For the first time in days, Bridge smiled. "I forgive you, Sky," he said.

Sky smiled in return. "Thanks, Bridge. Friends?"

"Friends. Hey Sky, you want to play laundry fight?"

"Sure thing, buddy. Here, let me get my best support pantyhose, they'll make some great slingshots." Sky started digging through his closet, only to find that all of his pantyhose were gone.

"Uh, yeah, about that . . ." Bridge said. "I kinda already made them into chew toys for Dumpster about a week ago."

"What?" Sky whirled around and sure enough, the knotted, dog-chewed remains of his once-best support pantyhose littered the floor under the grease stain on the wall that had been left by Dumpster.

This time, Sky dropped to his knees and screamed, loudly enough for the whole base to hear:

"**BRIDGE!"**

THE END.


End file.
